Yassin raises US $400 million, worries Palestinian government
Palestine, Politics, 5/27/1998

Contrary to press reports, the Palestinian government has not considered at all the question of whether to allow Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin back to Palestine.

Reliable sources confirmed Wednesday that the issue was not raised in any official Palestinian government forum. "The PNA is annoyed at the kind of reception and cooperation Sheikh Yassin received in a number of Arab Gulf states and Saudi Arabia but that does not mean he won't be allowed back to Gaza," the sources said.

Sheikh Yassin left Palestine some three months ago for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. Since then, he has visited a number of Arab states and Iran. In this three-month tour, Sheikh Yassin has managed to raise funds for his movement beyond what he himself expected. According to Palestinian reliable sources, the Sheikh raised an amount that varies between US $300 to 400 million. "This is an enormous amount of money that a single movement can raise in a three month tour and we wonder if similar amounts of money would be made available had other Palestinian factions been involved in a fund-raising trip," the sources said.

There are reports that the Palestinian government felt a bit embarrassed at the success that Sheikh Yassin achieved in his tour. Many believe that the state reception he received in some of the countries he visited was meant to send an implicit message to the Palestinian government and to President Yasser Arafat in person that those countries are still capable of opening channels of dialogue with parallel, if not alternative, leadership. Many Palestinian government officials seem unconvinced with the assumption that the Arab states which were so generous with Hamas had in fact wanted to send their message of discontent to the US in light of the continued impasse in the peace process.

Others argue that most of the Arab Gulf states had so far managed to drive a friction between Hamas and Iraq by means of granting generous support to Sheikh Yassin in return for his refusal to visit Baghdad. Until Wednesday, it was not clear if the Sheikh, currently in Damascus, would leave to Iraq. But Jordan, in the meantime, has hinted that the spiritual leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement is a persona non grata on Jordanian territory. Sources in Amman indicated that King Hussein was personally disturbed by the scope which Sheikh Yassin's tour has taken. It was King Hussein himself who intervened with the Israeli authorities and secured the release of Sheikh Yassin from Israeli jails. That happened last year after the failed attempt by Israeli Mossad agents on the life of Khaled Mishal, head of Hamas political bureau in Amman.

Right after the release, Amman became the center of Hamas political activity for some time and Jordanian officials thought they were successful in containing the Islamic movements in Jordan through their influence on Hamas. The latest tour by the sheikh and the subsequent financial support he raised have changed the picture and put Hamas back on the list of those forces that Jordan usually deals with in a very careful manner.

In Israel too, top-level arguments and assessments took place in light of a series of statements that Sheikh Yassin had made during his three-month tour. Officials from Israel's military intelligence and internal security, Shin Bet, have met and prepared position papers in response to the hard-line statements made by Ahmed Yassin during the course of his tour. Informed sources said the officers from both sides have failed to reach a common conclusion with the majority urging the authorities not to hinder the return of Sheikh Yassin to Gaza. For them, Sheikh Yassin's activity will be better monitored while within the Palestinian areas and as such the degree of damage that he or his movement can cause to Israel or to the Palestinian government is limited. Others argued that any measures against Sheikh Yassin, such as his expulsion out of the country, would be a blatant violation of promises made to King Hussein of Jordan when the sheikh was released from Israeli jails.

The other country that denied entry to Sheikh Yassin was South Africa which, apparently like Jordan, decided to accede to a Palestinian request not to grant the sheikh an official reception. Hamas sources in Amman threatened Israel with very severe repercussions if Sheikh Yassin was not allowed to return to Gaza.

The success of Yassin's tour has engendered anger in the Palestinian government, concern in Israel and an increase in the power base of Hamas. Israeli security sources say: "The PA is going to have a problem. Hamas will be stronger after Yassin's tour, and Arafat will have to deal with that."

Paris based Al-Watan Al-Arabi wrote recently that "a secret report submitted by a western country spoke of a secret meeting between Sheikh Yassin and Iranian spiritual leader, Ali Khaminei." According to the report, Iran will allocate Hamas $15 million a month and will help the organization "base itself in the PNA areas, in preparation for a clash with the PNA." "Iran will help Hamas train its commando groups for military operations against Israeli targets abroad and will provide logistic and financial assistance for these missions," said the report. It added that Hamas "will become the Palestinian Hizbullah and will operate in a similar manner to that employed by Hizbullah in Lebanon. Israeli sources, meanwhile, said that "not everything that appeared in the intelligence report was to be disbelieved."

Previous Stories:
  Syrian President confers with Hamas founder   (5/25/1998)
  Four Palestinian captives arrive in Iraq   (5/11/1998)
  Sheikh Yassin's visit to South Africa provokes controversy   (5/6/1998)

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